34 Australians released from Syrian camp holding IS-affiliated families

Thirty-four Australians held in a Syrian camp for IS-affiliated families have been released and are en route to Australia, following a repatriation agreement.

Reuters

16 February 2026 at 10:29:33

FILE PHOTO: Detainees gather at al-Hol camp after the Syrian government took control of it following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Hasaka, Syria, January 21, 2026.

Khalil Ashawi/Reuters

Syrian Kurdish forces on Monday released 34 Australians from a camp holding families of suspected Islamic State militants in northern Syria, saying they would be flown to Australia from Damascus.

Hukmiya Mohamed, a co-director of Roj camp, told Reuters that the 34 Australians had been released to members of their families who had come to Syria for the release. They were put on small buses for Damascus.

Roj camp holds more than 2,000 people from 40 different nationalities, the majority of them women and children.

Thousands of people believed to be linked to Islamic State militants have been held at Roj and a second camp, al-Hol, since the jihadist group was driven from its final territorial foothold in Syria in 2019.

Syrian government forces seized swathes of northern Syria from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in January, before agreeing a ceasefire on January 29.

The U.S. military last week completed a mission to transfer 5,700 adult male Islamic State detainees from Syria to Iraq.

-Reporting by Orhan Qereman in Roj, Syria; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Anil D'Silva/Reuters

Syrian Kurdish forces on Monday released 34 Australians from a camp holding families of suspected Islamic State militants in northern Syria, saying they would be flown to Australia from Damascus.